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It is the summer season at Amstel House. Almost every day full booked, the atmosphere around here couldn’t be better. Here some things you should not miss during your stay at our house. Continue reading →

Berlin is in vogue and in the mouths of the people. But if it is to gossip let’s do it with real facts. This month top10 (in honor of the 10th anniversary of Amstel House) lists 10 things you might not know about Berlin.

1- Huge Underground World

With a complex and rich underground railway network, many of the left WWII bunkers, escape tunnels, sewers and brewery cellars, it’s estimated that 40% of Berlin’s structures are underground, making the city almost double the size as it appears on the surface. The fun about it is that many of this underground world is open for visitation and surly between Berlin’s most popular tourist attractions. Continue reading →

With its cobbled, tree-lined streets, parks, small shops and restaurants with flowered gardens Prenzlauerberg is one of Berlin’s most charming neighborhoods. Known as an alternative district before and short after the Wall Fall, it has changed a lot over the past twenty years. After a heavy renovation process the area turned into a nest of young families, many of which formed by its former and once underground inhabitants. Today successful professionals – what can be assumed by the high rent prices – they live a quieter life, keeping however a sense of open mind and trendy behavior as fans of bikes, second hand shops and bio products.In the heart of this family environment in front of the cute Kollwitzplatz, there is a program that can’t be missed: Saturdays at the Kollwitzmarkt Continue reading →

Bonjour!! And welcome again on one of our hot spots tours around the globe! For anyone visiting Paris this summer we have some nice top tips for you. Because Paris is always a good idea…

First put a few songs of popular French singer Zaz in your playlist. Actor Russel Crow has already fallen madly in love with her voice and we suggest you play her music while reading on to get into the Paris mood!

You’re at this perfect spot, with the perfect group of friends, your phone’s batteries have never been in better shape and then… Can’t take a photo because your iPhones storage space has been fully used… SO rude! Here are a few ways to quickly solve this problem and save space on your iPhone for photos and videos.

Quick fixIf you’re really in a moment, open your Whatsapp. Open a chat with your best friend and press the upload button. Press ‘Take a Photo’ and it will allow you to take a few more photos. Continue reading →

Summer holidays are around the corner 〰∇∇∇〰 and chances are you are going on some sort of trip. Today we have a super useful tutorial for any trip; we’ll show you how to create a personal travel map with Google Maps. You can keep all your hot spots – restaurants you want to visit, the place you stay at, cultural highlights – in one place. It will save you hours as you now have the shortest route between the hot spots at your fingertips.

In the search bar on the top type in the name of the city or region you will visit

On the left hand side where it says ‘Untitled’ type in the name of your map. We named this one ‘Berlin Hot Spots’

Now in the search bar on the top, just type in the name of the places you wish to visit. You don’t have to know the exact address, Google will automatically generate the location of your hot spot. We started with your best place to stay in Berlin, the Amstel House Hostel Berlin. Obviously ^_* Click on the location on the left and a box will open with details of the location. Click Add to Map if you are sure you want to add this as one of your hot spots.

Repeat step 4 for all the hot spots you wish to visit.

You can click any location on the left and alter it’s name or add a personal description by clicking the pencil.

It’s also good to give all the hot spots ‘genres’ a different color. For instance, we made all our cultural hot spots yellow. You can even click ‘more icons’ and add icons to your locations. For instance, we picked a train for Berlin’s main train station.

All your customized maps will come up. Pick the one you want and it will also show your current location. To save data usage, preload the map and the route to hot spots you wish to visit that day while you are in the wifi zone of your accommodation. Turn 3/4G off and Google Maps will still show you where you are and what route to take all day! Reload a next route when you hit the next wifi zone.

It is summer in Berlin and our backpacker’s season has begun. The Amstel House is already packed with international guests from all over the world and their road used bags. It is nice to see the hostel so colourful and hectic again.As a bonus for this so special time of the year you would like to present you our new tour guide, the Chilean Lucas. With a great experience in the field, this natural traveller has worked as a guide in Valparaiso and Patagonia in Chile as tour, trekking and horse riding guide, as well as in Bretagne-France a kayaking guide. Continue reading →

Fans of the electronic music, is time to Melt! One of the biggest open-air festival in Germany devoted to your devotion is about to start. Melt Festival 2015 begins next week with an outstanding line-up and the promise of a mercilessly hot sun. Continue reading →

Sunday is flea market day all over Berlin. Cozy or big, furniture or vinyl oriented, to get cheap clothes or a nice sausage, there are kinds for all tastes. One – however – is special and carries an unprecedented attraction: the karaoke at Mauerpark. The biggest flea market in town hosts in its park next door a giant, open air arena that respects the laws of democracy. Here all brave singers – talented or untuned – share the same stage and effusive crowd. Continue reading →

When you’re staying at the Amstel House Hostel Berlin, it’s not only a bed and a comfy spot at the bar that we offer. Our lovely team of travel experts and Berlin enthusiasts come with the package! On the ‘Meet the Staff‘ tag on the Amstel House Blog, we’ll introduce one staff member and their favourite Berlin hot spots each month. Today, meet our staff star of the month, Maria (lovely lady on the right).

My name is Maria, and I have been working at the Amstel House Hostel Berlin since last October. I come from Spain and have been living in Berlin for the last three years. I studied Fine Arts in Spain and France, and after some years living in different cities I came to Berlin attracted by its culture scene and way of life. Now it feels like home